Happy birthday, King
by Doubleblade Miriko
Summary: "Let's see who ya really are, Kingy..." Hollow decides to have some fun and make Ichigo see things his way.  This is NOT an yaoi fic, nor it can be, in any form, understood as such. So read without a fear of romance.


**Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever, own Bleach. Thank your luck for that.**

**Warnings/Notes: Contains some violence and course language, nothing that bad, I think. And like I said, this is NOT an yaoi or a pairing fic, there is nothing even relatively romantic between Ichigo and the Hollow. Nothing. And this is written as birthday fic for a friend of mine, who happens to cosplay Ichigo, while I cosplay Hollow. So happy birthday King!**

**"Hollow talking" **

"Ichigo talking" _'Ichigo thinking'_

oOoOo

It was a quiet evening in the Kurosaki household. Karin was in her room playing video games and Yuzu was cleaning up the kitchen. Kurosaki Ichigo was in his room, stuck with a mountain of homework, which he had been trying to clear for hours. But he was grateful for the silence. He could finally concentrate on his school work for awhile, there were no annoying midgets living in his closet, no Substitute Shinigami badge shrieking, no Hollows in his head whispering and no...

"Happy birthday my one and only son! You have no idea how proud I amgh!" The intruding figure, who seemed to posses human like traits and a goat-ish beard, was thrown to a wall by a very irritated Substitute Shinigami.

"Get the fuck out of my room Goat-face! I'm trying to study!", Ichigo growled and dragged the figure, who was also known as Kurosaki Isshin, to the hallway. Isshin shed a few tears and clung to his son's leg.

"But it's your birthday tomorrow! We're supposed to go to town! Hit the bars, get yourself a woman!" Isshin whined and l tugged Ichigo's leg. Orange headed teenager glared at his father with all the contempt he could muster and untangled him from his leg.

"I'm not doing anything tomorrow, just going to school, hanging out and coming home. Got it? And I couldn't hit the bars, I'm still under age and I don't need a girlfriend." He said in a freezing tone while his father stood up and beamed at him.

"I understand, my precious son! You must be not interested in woman at all! No matter, I know few places with great male waitresses..."

That was the point Ichigo didn't want hear so he promptly shut the door to his father's face and facepalmed. He didn't need an idiot father who was set on making his life even more difficult than it already was. With a huff, he turned towards his desk to finish his homework, but his father's antics had left him incapable to focus to those again. '_Great, so now I'll have to finish today's homework tomorrow, when there's a shitload of new homework... Great' _he thought and slopped down to his bed.

Unfortunately his moron of a father was right in one thing: He really did have a birthday tomorrow. Which would mean gifts he didn't want and commotion around him he didn't need. And Keigo would most likely act like his father, so it'd be a tiring and frustrating day. He didn't have anything against growing older really, just all the partying attached to it didn't please him.

"**At last somethin' I agree with ya, King. Though couple of chicks doesn't sound so bad, if ya ask from me..." **

Ichigo bolted from his bed and glanced around anxiously. The annoying voice of his psychotic Hollow was back, so it could only mean that his Hollow was back too. But it couldn't be back, he had killed it! Ichigo frowned. This time he would finish the job and get rid of the nerve-grating annoyance.

"**Aww, I'm hurt Kingy, do you really hate me so? Do you really think you can kill me so easily? You must be stupider than you look! " **The white counterpart of his laughed wildly and the noise was starting to make Ichigo's head hurt. **"And I'd prefer to be called 'him', I'm a person too... At least in some level." **He could hear the smirk in the white thing's voice. Ichigo glared at the wall, hoping that the Hollow would shut up. Then a thought occurred to him.

"Hey, you white pest. Why aren't you trying to take over and all that crap?" During the last minutes he hadn't felt even a slightest push towards his mind. Which could be considered odd, because last time he heard from the Hollow, it was trying desperately to gain control of his body.

"**Hey, it's our body! And to answer your question, King, I can't." **That made Ichigo frown.

"What do you mean, 'you can't'? You didn't have any problems last time." He recalled those times when the Hollow had tortured him mentally and used his weakened state in battles as an advantage.

"**I mean what I say! What do ya think I've been doing here, but trying to take control? But every fuckin' time I try it, I hit some kind of a wall which prevents me from doing anything. Other than talkin' to ya, of course." **Ichigo saw the Hollow with his mind's eye, arms crossed and wearing a twisted smirk.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me! I don't need a psychotic Hollow talking to me on top everything else! I'll go fucking insane..." He groaned and crashed down to his bed.

"**Ya know, you'd be much more fun to be around if ya actually were insane... And you're talking to a voice inside your head, so what does that tell about ya?" **

"I don't want to deal with you right now, Hollow. Shut up!"

"**I can go on all night, and then ya'll allow me to have control, if just to get rid of me!"**

Ichigo had had enough of his Hollow's antics, so he did the thing he felt would work: He sent a rough mental shove towards the part of his brain he felt the Hollow reside and imagined himself hitting the white mirror image. To his satisfaction, he heard a grunt of pain and a crashing sound, which could only mean that the annoying white being had crashed through several buildings and hopefully would shut up for awhile.

Yawning he closed his eyes and let the weariness of his body get to him. Hell with birthday, hell with all the commotion, now he wanted to sleep. Within minutes of divine silence, Ichigo drifted to sleep.

In Ichigo's inner world, the Hollow with no name dusted the debris from his clothes and looked to the sky, which was turning dark, signalling that his King had fallen asleep. Wide, sadistic grin spread across his face. The fact that he couldn't take over didn't stop him from tormenting his King. And maybe trying to make the orange headed teenager see things his way. Laughing, Hollow sonidoed towards one of the vertical buildings.

"**Kingy, Kingy... Time to see who you really are..."**

oOoOo

It was dark. Ichigo couldn't see anything, but he heard the sound of rain from all around him, though he felt none of it. Annoyed, he started walking forwards, to see how long the unnatural darkness would last.

At those thoughts, the darkness started to clear and the sound of rain became louder. As his surroundings cleared and he saw a vaguely familiar looking clearing amidst woods. Now the ever present rain was soaking him and his clothes too. Clothes...? Ichigo looked down and saw that he was on a full shinigami outfit, Zangetsu's comforting weight manifesting itself in his back. He shrugged, it wasn't so weird, he had been on this outfit when coming to this clearing the first time...

Substitute Shinigami's eyes widened in recognition when he understood where he was. This was the clearing he had fought Grand Fisher, the hollow that had killed his mother. He had lost then, but only barely. What he would have given for power just then...

Familiar fury rushed to his brains, driving away logical thought. He wanted, no _needed, _to find Grand Fisher and tear him apart. Make the monster feel every ounce of agony he and his family had endured after his mother's death. Ichigo grinned cruelly, because now he had the power he craved then, the power to erase his mother's killer from existence.

Drawing Zangetsu from it's sheath, he looked around wildly, but saw only moist grass and trees. All was silent except for the pounding of the rain. But Ichigo new it was in here, it had to be. Behind him he heard a low chuckle and Ichigo jumped to let the incoming clawed hand pass under him harmlessly.

He landed and faced Grand Fisher in it's all brown furred and grinning mask glory. The bait dangling from it's forehead didn't sport his mother's image, which made things that much easier. Ichigo let a yell and charged towards his foe. Fisher tried to dodge, but now Ichigo had the superior speed and a wild swing severed it's front claw.

The hollow howled in pain and black blood spurted from the wound, covering Zangetsu and Ichigo with it. The orange haired youth grinned in savage pleasure when he heard the howl. But more was to come, hell yeah, he wouldn't let his mother's killer of so easily.

Before Grand Fisher could re-grow the lost arm, Ichigo jumped to the air and brought his sword down to skewer the hollow's mask. Zangetsu sunk inside it's head until only the handle remained and Ichigo watched as agony and fear flashed in Fisher's eyes. With a cruel smirk he yanked the blade from the mask and watched as the being he hated most disappeared to little white particles of reishi.

"**Who would have known that ya cloud be such a cruel bastard, King..."**

Ichigo felt a tug and the scenery around him shifted to that of his inner world, world filled with odd sideways skyscrapers and at the moment blue sky. In front of him stood the white counterpart of his, the inner Hollow. The bleached white Hollow was wearing a twisted a grin and it was clapping slowly.

"**I gotta admit, I'm impressed. I would've never thought you'd kill anything so ruthlessly. Hell, we might even get along from now on!" **

Ichigo didn't feel guilty about killing the thing that killed his mother, but his Hollow's comparison to itself made him angry.

"I'm not anything like you, you psychotic freak! I'd never kill anything just for the fun of it! I take no pleasure in violence!" He snarled, but bit his tongue when the words left his mouth. He had just killed something that was definitely alive in some way and he had loved it. _'That was different. The thing deserved it.'_ Mocking grin in the Hollow's face grew.

"**Oh? So you took no pleasure from killing Grand Fisher?" **Hollow threw his head back and laughed. **"Well, then I guess that wave of pleasure I felt when ya heard that thing _scream_ wasn't coming from ya, eh?" **

Ichigo glared at the grinning doppelgänger. " That was different. I had a right to do it, it deserved it!" _'But you've felt that pleasure before... What about when you ripped that hollow's tongue out?', _a treacherous voice whispered in his mind. The Hollow must have sensed his thoughts, because it walked closer, grin ever-present on it's face.

"**Okay Kingy, I admit, he deserved it. But don't you love the feeling? The power, the blood, the adrenaline?"**

Despite himself, Ichigo felt his heart rate speed up.

"**Ya could feel** **it even when fighting an opponent that doesn't really deserve it..," **the white image of him basically purred, it's eyes wide with bloodlust. Disgust welled inside of Ichigo at the idea, but to his loathing, some adrenaline filled excitement shot to this brain, making his heart beat faster. Snarling, he grabbed the giant clever that was Zangetsu from his back and pointed it to the Hollow.

"Shut up! I'll never be like you, even if I could, I don't want to be!" Letting righteous fury command his actions, he charged at his Hollow, going for a swing that would have left a wound to the Hollow's torso, if the white being hadn't intercepted in with it's own, reverse colored, Zangetsu.

"**Now you're speakin' the right language, King! Show me some of that bloodlust I know ya have!" **Laughing, Hollow pushed Ichigo off and jumped after him, swinging the cleaver at Ichigo.

Ichigo blocked and retaliated. Fight continued on without neither of the combatants suffering anything but superficial injuries, Ichigo got a shallow cut to his side when the Hollow threw Zangetsu at him. Ichigo himself landed a few good hits to the Hollow's torso and sword arm, forcing it to use the weaker arm to swing the sword.

Substitute Shinigami dodged a strike aimed to his head and shunpoed behind his opponent, trying to land a hit to it's unprotected back. But the white mirror image was quick and turned just in time to block the blade, bringing them to a deadlock. Ichigo looked to the insane, yellow eyes of his inner Hollow and saw his own eyes mirroring them. Their expressions were almost identical, smirk on their lips, eyes shining with the thrill of combat.

"**See, Kingy? This is the reason to live! Seeing your opponent bleed and crushing them under your feet, like a true King should! I know ya like this, if you deny it, you're even more of a fool than I took ya for!" **With a great show of strength Ichigo showed the Hollow away. He couldn't say anything, because he knew, to his eternal shame, that it was right. But he could end this now, make the annoying Hollow eat it's words and bow in defeat. Ichigo couldn't help but to smirk. That sounded good. So he shouted his answer to still grinning Hollow.

"BANKAI!"

Following shock wave obscured Hollow's surroundings for a moment, but all Ichigo needed was a moment. Before it could use it's own bankai, Ichigo, now armed with incredible speed, rushed towards the Hollow, pushed it towards the surface of one of the buildings and scored a deep wound to it's left arm, almost severing it and making the Hollow drop the reverse colored Zangetsu.

When the dust that had been kicked up cleared, it revealed Ichigo standing over the kneeling Hollow version of himself, holding Tensa Zangetsu to it's throat. Hollow still had the arrogant smirk on it's face, even when Ichigo pressed the sharp edge of the blade to it's skin, making a small trickle of blood run down the edge.

"**What are ya waitin' for, King? Kill me, or don't ya have the guts to kill someone in cold blood?" **It laughed, in spite of the blade on it's throat.

"**Sure, in the heat of the fight ya can kill them, as long as they fight back, but the moment you have the enemy kneeling on your feet, waiting for the killing blow, ya can't do it! So typical of ya, 'your highness'." **The mocking tone made Ichigo's blood boil and banish all ideas of sparing the white leech. A hint of smile on his lips, Ichigo angled Tensa Zangetsu right and sliced clean through his Hollow's neck. He had just the time to register the surprised look on it's face and feel a flash of satisfaction before all went dark.

oOoOo

Ichigo woke up, gasping for breath and to find himself in his own bed, tangled to the sheets and half falling to the floor. He scrambled to his feet and tried to make his breathing and heart rate calm down. It was all a dream. He hadn't fought with his Hollow, he hadn't felt that sickening pleasure of killing and he hadn't killed his mother's killer. Ichigo's head spun and he made his way towards the bathroom, to wash away the cold sweat he was drenched in and to get a good look at himself.

He flipped on the switch in the bathroom and washed his face before looking at the mirror above the sink. His eyes widened and he suppressed a yelp. The image in the mirror wasn't the orange headed teenager, but the bleached white form of his inner Hollow, smirking manically at him. Ichigo's eyes widened further when he saw the healing gashes in it's arms and throat.

"**Wow Kingy, that went even better than I thought it would. I was sure I could bring your real self out and lookie what happened! Perfect success!" **It howled in laughter which made Ichigo angry and shamed at the same time.

"It wasn't all a dream? What about the part where I killed Grand Fisher?" Hollow grinned.

"**I figured somethin' like that would bring your killer instinct to the surface. And how right was I! You even admitted to yourself that ya loved it!" **Hollow rubbed his throat absent-mindedly. **"But I didn't really think that ya'd kill me, or atleast try to kill me, for real. That hurt, ya know?" **_'Good'_ Ichigo noticed himself thinking and Hollow probably heard him, because it grinned even wider.

"**I'm lookin' forward to your fights from now on, 'cause you have understood who ya really are."**

"You wish, Hollow. I already said, I'll never be like you. I might like fighting, but I'm still not fighting only to fight and to get stronger. I'll fight only as long as I have a reason to." He said and glared and the white pest. Throwing off the glare, it chuckled.

"**Keep tellin' yourself that, King. For I know what ya really think about fighting. Lying to me is useless, just as useless as lying to yourself." **

With a huff, very irritated Substitute Shinigami turned away from the mirror and started walking towards his room.

"**One more thing."**

He took a deep breath and turned towards the insanely grinning white leech.

"**Happy birthday, 'your highness'." **

Seething teenager moved towards the mirror, but the white annoyance faded away, leaving only an echoing laughter behind. Ichigo could only stare at the wall and curse the Hollow to the deepest pits of hell. At the same time he heard an alarm clock go off in his father's room.

"Happy birthday, my precious Ichigo!"

Without another word, Ichigo facepalmed and cursed his life.

oOoOo

AN:

This was at the same time fun and pain in the ass to write. I promised I'd write a birhday fic for my Ichigo-cosplaying friend and now I finally finished it. Exactly a week late. But the brief fight scenes were difficult to write and this changed in my head so many times before I actually got to writing this, this lost scenes and lines and all that stuff. I managed to inject some stuff that me and that friend of mine spoke and did when were in the last convention cosplaying as Hollow Ichigo and Ichigo. Do you regocnize them, Kingy? But I finally managed to write a fic about those two, I'm more than happy about it! So, I hope you liked this, tell me what you think. And if you spot any grammar errors that make you cringe, tell me and I'll fix them. Nothing more, over and out for now!


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